


If I Could Find a Way

by Zephyrfox



Series: Marauder's Quest [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Don't copy to another site, Everyone lives, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, MCD, Time Travel Fix-It, Time-Turner Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 09:10:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19438357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zephyrfox/pseuds/Zephyrfox
Summary: On 31 October, 1981, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named attacked a cottage in Godric's Hollow. There was only one survivor. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are going to change that - if they can find a way.





	If I Could Find a Way

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Linorien and Jaimistoryteller for betas!
> 
> Updated and now part of a series!

“Pads!”

Grief clawed at his chest like a wild thing as he stumbled through the darkness. Sirius had only one purpose now. Everything else was lost in the blur surrounding him. A figure appeared from out of the shadows, becoming real as it stepped into a pool of light. His awareness expanded enough to recognize there was a streetlamp overhead, illuminating the night. The figure’s familiar scent reached him over the smell of exhaust fumes from the road beside them. It wasn’t his prey, he could ignore it. He had to keep searching. 

Strong hands grasped his upper arms and forced him to stop. Sirius snarled and tried to shrug them off. He needed to get away, he had no time for this. He had to stop the traitor. His very soul howled for revenge.

“Padfoot!” 

He finally succeeded in shaking off the hands trying to hold him back. He looked wildly around the street, seeing only a few muggles and their automobiles. The traitor! Where was he? The rat was here, he had to be.

“Merlin’s beard, Sirius. _Finite incantatem!”_

Sirius stopped short and stared at his surroundings. A quiet muggle side street, with cars going past on a wider connecting street. Why was he _here,_ with Remus in front of him? He’d just been in Godric’s Hollow, holding Harry, safe in his arms, after… he sobbed a breath, unable to finish that thought. He’d lost his godson? Couldn’t he do even that one thing right? _James, Lily, I’ve failed you both. I swear I won’t fail Harry again!_ He shook his head, rather like a dog shaking off water, and Remus hugged him. He let himself lean into the comforting warmth of his friend’s arms. “Moony?”

Remus met his gaze as if searching for a shred of sanity in his eyes. Truthfully, Sirius wasn’t sure what his friend would find. “Are you all right now, Sirius? I think someone hit you with a _confundus_ charm, followed by an _imperio.”_

He frowned, trying to think back to his last clear memory, flinching away from thoughts of the destruction he’d seen. “Who did it? And where’s Harry?”

“I think Hagrid took him, but I didn’t see who cast the spells on you. I got there too late,” Remus said, his voice catching on the last word, as if he wanted to howl his own pain to the uncaring moon above.

Sirius slumped then, resting his forehead on his friend’s shoulder. “They’re _gone,_ Moony. James and Lily are _gone.”_ He could barely speak around the lump of grief in his throat, threatening to cut off his breath. That was all right. If he died, he’d be with them, with James and Lily.

Remus inhaled sharply, and grasped Sirius’ arms once more, pushing him back to stare into his face with gentle brown eyes gone wide with realization. “They don’t have to be gone,” Remus said urgently. “No, Sirius, listen to me! _There’s still time to save them!”_

* * *

He didn’t dare let slip the hope that tried to flare at his friend’s words. But Remus would never lie to him. If he said there was a way to save them — _“How?”_ The word sounded as if it had been torn from the depths of his soul.

“Time,” Remus said, dark eyes boring into his as if willing him to understand.

Sirius shook his head. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

“Here now, what are you two doing?” 

They both looked over at the sharp voice. A constable walked toward them from the direction of the wider street, an air of tension about him.

“We need to get out of here,” Remus muttered. “Are you ready?”

“For what?” The words were barely out of his mouth before he found himself yanked away in a side-along apparition. 

They landed on the upper floor of the Shrieking Shack, in the room they had turned into a kind of den. It was the only place that could be safe for them now. The shack was the perfect hiding spot, and it was so surrounded by protective spells that it was practically hermetically sealed. He could almost smell Lily’s perfume, from the last time they’d all been there. Sirius stumbled, trying to contain his sudden nausea. He’d never smell her perfume again. He swallowed and lashed out at the nearest target. “Merlin’s left nut, Moony, what the hell are you _doing?_ That was a muggle! The Statute —”

“The Statute won’t matter,” Remus said soothingly. “Not if I’m right. Not if we can pull this off.”

For a moment Sirius wondered if they were in that mirror world from that American telly show Lily had liked, where the good guys were bad guys instead. Or maybe they just switched bodies? “You sound like you’re _me."_

Remus patted his arm. “Don’t worry.” He unbuttoned his muggle shirt, revealing a necklace with a small metal and glass object — 

Sirius braced his hand against the wall for support. “Moony,” he breathed, feeling better than he had in hours, “that’s a _Time-Turner!”_

“Yes.” A smile flashed across Remus’ face at his reaction. “That’s what I was trying to tell you. We can use this, and we can go back and save them.”

“I could kiss you,” he said, still staring at the Time-Turner in Remus’ hands. _What they could do with that…_ Ideas and possibilities ran through his brain, and the pain of James’ loss stabbed him again. James was their leader, their planner…

“Thanks, but no. Between you and James, I get more than enough of that nonsense.”

Sirius, distracted finally from his pain, had a ridiculous urge to laugh at him, and just decided to sit — on the floor, which was the only place available. “What do we do now, Moony?”

Remus crouched down next to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “We bring our family back.”

* * *

Sirius conjured parchment and a self-inking quill and started making a list. He had an idea that just might work, and they didn’t have a lot of time to come up with an alternate plan. There was only a short window of time when they could safely go back into the past — for long enough to make a difference. 

“We have only one shot to make things right,” Remus warned him. “We need to make sure it will go smoothly the first time.”

He glared at his friend. “I _know._ There’s a lot riding on this.” He looked down at the parchment. Timeline, timing, James’ invisibility cloak, equipment. That last item was circled. And circled again. He grinned wolfishly. That one was going to be _good._

* * *

They apparated near the ruined cottage and found a semi-sheltered niche between three trees to hide in, away from the prying eyes of the muggles still responding to the destruction. A cheerful bird feeder, hanging from one of the lower branches, was a welcome distraction for him to focus on. It was empty, though; whoever had put it there had forgotten to fill it. Sirius had an odd stab of sympathy. He felt empty too. 

“Are you ready?” Remus asked, watching him with a sad smile.

“Yes.” Sirius nodded once, sharply. He was more than ready. Even though he hoped their plan would be successful, his grief was still affecting him more than he let Moony see. There had been a moment after they arrived when he could have sworn he smelled their own scents already there, but that was ridiculous. They’d been away, planning, for long enough that their earlier scents around the cottage would have faded. Then he thought he could see things moving in the shadows — he even thought he’d seen Snivelus’ bat-like form sweeping into the cottage, and that was hardly likely to _ever_ happen. “Do it.”

Remus somberly draped the chain around them both, then took hold of the Time-Turner and rotated it, counting five turns under his breath. Around them, time came to a stop. And then, with a jerk, it began flowing backwards. “Here we go.”

They watched as people moved backwards, reversing their actions. Overhead, the moon sank toward the horizon, until it dipped out of sight at twilight, only to be replaced by the late evening sun. Then everything seemed to hesitate, and with another jerk, time resumed its forward motion.

“This is the farthest back I’ve ever gone,” Remus said, looking around curiously at the now quiet street. “I wasn’t sure if it would work.”

Sirius stared at him. “You pushed it past the five hour limit, didn’t you?”

“Just a bit,” Remus said with a slightly abashed air. He took off the chain and put the Time-Turner into his pocket. “I wanted to be sure we had time on this end.”

“Good.” That meant they had more time to put the plan into operation. Sirius brushed past his friend and looked back over his shoulder. “It worked, now let’s get going.”

Remus huffed a self-deprecating laugh and fell into step at his side.

They walked through the wards at the perimeter of the property. It always felt like a gentle embrace to Sirius when the wards recognized him and allowed him to pass. This time he had to fight the automatic feelings of _safe_ and _home._ There was no time for that.

They went up the stone path to the cottage’s front steps, and Sirius pushed open the door, stopping as the scent of Lily’s perfume filled his senses. He closed his eyes for a moment and stepped inside. Once over the threshold, he automatically looked towards the stairs to the second floor. _James had been there, lying so still…_ He shook his head, cursing under his breath — and then James _was_ there, walking down the stairs with a question on his face and Sirius’ heart stuttered. He wanted to rush forward and hug James, get him off the stairs, but Remus was there, a comforting hand on his arm, and a murmured, “Steady,” in his ear. He swallowed and forced himself to stay calm.

“We’ve been betrayed.” Best to lead with the bad news so James would understand their urgency. “Moony and I used the Time-Turner.” He paused, but James’ only reaction was a surprised widening of his eyes. “It’s bad, Prongs. It was Peter. You need to take Lily and Harry and get out of here.”

James held his hand up, signaling _wait,_ and turned his head to call upstairs. “Lily! We need you. Can you come down, please?” Then he turned his attention back to Sirius. “How much time have we got?”

“The attack starts in four hours,” Remus said quietly. “We came back from six hours ahead. We have a plan.”

“James?” Lily came down the stairs, holding Harry, with a puzzled expression. “What’s going on? Why are Remus and Sirius here, and why do we need a plan?”

“Pa’foo’!” Harry called out, his chubby baby arms reaching for Sirius. 

He swallowed hard and plucked Harry from his mother’s arms. There was no way he could deny himself a cuddle with his godson now. He hugged the little boy to him, tears pricking his eyes. “Hello, Prongslet.” 

Lily’s eyes widened in alarm at the sight, and she swung towards her husband. “What’s going on?”

“Moony,” Sirius whispered, a plea for his friend to tell the tale. His own voice wasn’t working properly at the moment.

“Right.” Remus stepped forward, placing himself where he could defend Sirius and Harry from anyone trying to enter the cottage, and told James and Lily what had happened earlier — or rather later — that evening.

“And you’re positive it was Peter?” James asked, as if unable to believe it. “There’s no mistake?”

“He’s the only one it could be,” Sirius managed, his voice a harsh whisper. “He’s secret keeper.”

“Maybe…” James shrugged helplessly. “Could he have been coerced?”

“You know it doesn’t work that way,” Lily said gently, her eyes full of sympathy for her husband at the betrayal of his friend. James looked away, and she dropped her eyes for a moment before straightening with determination. “All right. Plan. We need to contact Dumbledore. He’ll know a safe place for us.”

“No!” Remus said quickly. When both Lily and James frowned at him, he said, “There’s too many unknowns. I told you that Sirius had been confounded and imperioused. We don’t know who it was — only that he was ordered to give Harry to Hagrid and go after Peter. We need to keep this to ourselves. We can’t risk the wrong person finding out.”

At the words ‘wrong person’, James muttered ‘Snape’ under his breath and Lily slapped him in the chest.

“Hush, you,” she said. “Go ahead, Remus.”

“It will be all right,” Sirius interrupted, smiling down at Harry’s gap-tooth grin. “We have a plan to fix things.”

* * *

Once more, he and Remus were hiding outside the Potter cottage in the stand of trees. This time, though, they had the advantage of James’ invisibility cloak.

James and Lily had listened to their plan, and then made their own changes. Sirius smirked. Plans always worked better when James took control, and Lily wasn’t too bad in the planning department either.

Darkness had fallen while they’d made their preparations, and the muggles no longer passed by along the street. Inside the Potter’s cottage, the lights went out one by one.

He hated waiting at the best of times, and this definitely wasn’t one of those times. “How much longer?”

“Shouldn’t be long now,” Moony said, his attention on the mirror he held. The other mirror was hanging in the upstairs hallway of the cottage, angled to show the stairs and into one of the bedrooms — the one set up as a nursery for Harry.

With five successive _pops,_ the Death Eaters and their master appeared. And the _rat._ Sirius growled under his breath.

“Not now, Pads,” Remus said, all icy calm.

“How can you stay so cool about this?” Sirius didn’t take his eyes off the group at the front of the cottage. Two of the Death eaters were attempting to force the wards, one by one. He smirked as Voldemort snapped at Peter. Just because the rat was secret keeper, didn’t mean he could bypass the wards.

“I’m as angry as you, but I have control.” Moony glanced up to where the crescent moon rode in the sky. They were only a few days past the new moon.

Sirius shivered as something tore through him — the last ward was down. “The mirror!”

“Right.” Moony shifted it so they could both see. 

Death Eaters in the cottage. Sirius wanted to attack, but he forced himself to stay in place. _Remember the plan._ James was on the stairwell, ineffectively dueling Voldemort. Moony squeezed Sirius’ arm in warning as James went down in a shower of green light. Voldemort stepped casually over his body and swept into the bedroom. He blocked part of their view, but that was all right. They could see enough. 

Voldemort threatened Lily, then the green of the killing curse flashed once more.

“Now,Padfoot!”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He threw off the invisibility cloak and raised a long tube to his shoulder. His birth family had hated him and his muggle-loving ways, but those ways had taught him there were some things that might be more powerful than magic. 

Like an anti-tank rocket. 

“Shield, Moony!” Sirius cast a quick sound-canceling charm over his ears and pressed the button at the tube’s midpoint. He felt the thump as the trigger struck the primer, causing an explosion that propelled the rocket toward the second floor of the cottage at breakneck speed. He couldn’t even hear the exultant _whoop_ he let out as he watched the rocket take down Voldemort — and part of the second story of the cottage.

He dismissed the sound-canceling charm as the rubble fell. A baby’s terrified crying cut through the night, and it took everything he had to not rush to Harry’s side. Moony shifted restlessly beside him, telling him that his friend felt the same. They both had a strong instinct to _protect the cub._ “The shield worked,” he told Moony unnecessarily.

“Of course it did. I do good work. Here, give me that.” Moony took the rocket launcher, and with a wave of his wand and a muttered spell, transfigured it into a bird feeder.

Sirius smiled. It was just like Moony to take something manufactured for destruction and turn it into something to help the living. There was a convenient hook on the tree next to them, so he hung it from the low branch, and did a double take. That was the same bird feeder —

An anguished wail came from the street, drowning out the child crying in the cottage, and he and Moony turned together. “It’s me.” The younger Sirius raced frantically into the ruined cottage. He felt his shoulder creep up towards his ears as he cringed, anxiety taking hold.

“Not long now,” Remus said, his voice a steady rock Sirius could lean on, and draped the invisibility cloak back over them both.

Sure enough, Hagrid apparated in moments later, landing next to Sirius’ abandoned motorbike. The half-giant stood there, gaping at the destruction as if he couldn’t believe it.

An ashen-faced, stricken Sirius came back out of the cottage holding the now quiet baby, his anguished words carrying clearly through the night. “— my fault, I’m so sorry, all my fault, but it will be all right, I swear it —” 

“Sirius!” Hagrid’s face crumpled with sorrow. “They’re dead, aren’t they? James an’, an’ Lily?”

 _“I couldn’t help them!”_ The cry of despair startled the baby into renewed wails, and younger Sirius hugged the baby tighter. “Sorry, Harry, so sorry, all my fault...”

“No, I would never ha’ believed it,” Hagrid whispered, his eyes widening in shock. Then he straightened, demanding, “Give Harry ter me.”

In the shadows, Remus whispered into Sirius’ ear. “Merlins’s beard, Hagrid thinks you’re guilty.”

“After all that, even _I’d_ think I was guilty,” he whispered back, his heart aching for his younger self.

Younger Sirius stared at the half-giant wild-eyed, stepping back and turning his body to shield the baby from view. “No, I’m his godfather. I have to protect him. I promised.”

Hagrid held up his hands and spoke in what he probably thought was a soothing tone. “Now take it easy, Sirius. Yer upset. Look at little Harry, he’s frightened. I c’n take 'im to Dumbledore. He’ll be safe.”

“Safe?” Younger Sirius calmed somewhat, staring at Hagrid with something like hope. “You promise?”

“Promise,” Hagrid said. “Now give 'im to me.”

As if in a daze, younger Sirius handed over the baby, as well as the spell to activate his motorbike. Hagrid mounted the motorbike holding the baby in one arm. He looked sadly at the younger Sirius. “I’m sorry, bu’ if yeh’r guilty, I can’t have yeh gettin’ away.” He waved his umbrella-wand. _“Petrificus totalus!”_

Under the invisibility cloak, Remus kept a firm grip on Sirius to prevent him from going out to help his younger self.

“But Moony, that didn’t happen before!”

“How do you know? You don’t remember! We need to wait until whoever confounds and imperios you gets here.”

They waited, watching, as Hagrid rose into the air. No one else had arrived.

Sirius checked the time, worried. “Something’s wrong. Whoever it was should have arrived by now. And where are you? Shouldn’t your younger self be here too?”

Remus shrugged, although a shadow in his eyes betrayed his concern. “I got here right after your patronus gave me the message you needed help. How long ago did your younger self send it?

He stared at Remus in horror. Mechanically he pulled out his wand and cast the patronus spell. When the silvery dog manifested, he gave it his message. “Find Moony,” he began, and huffed when the patronus immediately pointed its muzzle at Remus. “No, not this Moony. Tell him I need help at the cottage, there’s something wrong.”

The patronus cocked its head at him, and with an impatient air, looked once more at Remus, as if saying this _is_ Moony, you idiot. 

“Not him,” Sirius snapped, exasperated. “The other Moony!”

He swore the patronus rolled its eyes before loping off. “Faster, this is an emergency!” he called after it. He was rewarded with a flick of its tail, but it least it put on speed, disappearing from sight as it raced away.

Beside him, Remus watched the whole thing with an almost distracted air. After the patronus vanished, though, he stiffened in shock. “I’m sorry, Padfoot.” He shook off the cloak and hurried to younger Sirius, casting three spells in quick succession. _“Finite incantatem! Confundus! Imperio!”_

Left behind under the invisibility cloak, Sirius watched as his best friend confounded his younger self and ordered him to go after Peter.

When Remus finished, he hurried back and got under the cloak. _“I_ was the one who cast those spells. I had to have been!”

Younger Sirius stood there for a moment, muttering at the ground as the motorbike soared overhead, heading off to Dumbledore. Someone apparated in, just as he flung his head back, a mad gleam in his eye. “I know where you are, Peter!”

“Sirius, wait! _Padfoot!”_ Younger Remus was there, trying to stop him, but it was too late. Sirius apparated away — but not before Remus hit him with a tracking spell and apparated after him.

Then, as if that lowered whatever spell that had been keeping the muggles from noticing what happened, the first of the rescue teams roared up, sirens wailing.

* * *

“It’s done.” Remus took off the invisibility cloak, shaking his head in wonder. _“We_ were the ones. We always had to be here.”

“If we hadn’t used the Time-Turner, you never would have gotten the message to be here. And _you_ were the one to send me after Peter.” Sirius paused, thinking about what he’d just said. “Hang on, why _did_ you send me after the rat?”

“I didn’t see his body in the mirror, so he must have transformed and escaped. And it was a good way to get you, and me once I showed up, out of the way before the muggles showed up.”

He nodded, considering that. “Yeah, all right, that makes sense. Oh shit. Muggles. Moony, that constable —”

“The muggle policeman,” Remus groaned. “You were right about the Statute. We’ll have to obliviate him.” 

* * *

They apparated to the muggle street he had been wandering along, searching for the rat. Once more, they hid under the invisibility cloak. He really needed to figure out how to get his hands on one of his own…

“There we — erm, _they_ are,” Moony whispered, nodding towards where their younger selves were talking. He frowned. "There really are a few more muggles here than I thought there were. Wasn't there only the constable?"

“Where _is_ the constable?” Sirius looked the other way, catching sight of a man in uniform walking leisurely in their direction. “Oh, I see him. He’s not really watching us. Not yet, at any rate. Cast a Notice Me Not. It won't affect him, but it will affect the other muggles.”

Remus nodded, casting the spell just in time.

“Here now, what are you two doing?” 

“There he goes,” Remus said. “He’s noticed us.”

Sirius smirked. “Wait until we apparate. Then we’ll get him.”

_“What the bloody hell —”_

He snorted. He did so love being right. “Constable, over here.” He stepped out from under the invisibility cloak, leaving Remus covered.

The constable looked his way and gaped, eyes bugging out in astonishment. “What the… How did you do that?”

He raised his wand and cast a quiet, _“Obliviate!”_ Remus had asked him to give the constable a pleasant memory of walking down the street. Sirius still wasn’t sure what would make walking down a street a pleasant memory, but he did like to indulge his friend’s whims when he could.

The constable blinked once, and looked around confused. “Erm, pardon me, sir. Are you having a good evening?”

“Yes, quite all right, thank you for asking.”

The constable nodded absently. “Good. Erm. I’ll be on my way, then…” He turned and continued down the street.

“That’s it,” Sirius said softly to Moony. “Let’s get back.”

Remus hesitated, then said apologetically. “We have to find somewhere to wait. We can’t apparate back to the shack and risk running into ourselves.”

“That will take _forever,”_ Sirius whined. “Younger us hung out at the shack for hours planning everything. Why can’t we just, you know, use the Time-Turner and go forward a couple hours?”

Remus blinked in surprise, the tips of his ears turning red. “You know, that’s so obvious I didn’t even think of it.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“We’ll still have to apparate close to Hogwart’s and sneak onto the grounds. There will be anti-apparition awards up over the shack. We’ll have to take the entrance under the Whomping Willow.”

* * *

As they expected, after moving forward a couple hours to just after they originally left, the anti-apparition shield around the Shrieking Shack was active. With the ease of long practice from their school days, they slipped onto school grounds to take the tunnel at the base of the Whomping Willow.

After the first few attempts at flattening them with its branches, the Willow seemed to recognize them, and tried even harder to hit them. It became a deadly test of their ability to dodge its strikes in order to get past its branches. Sirius came within a hair’s breadth of being flattened by one especially enthusiastic branch, and Remus had to tackle him to safety, knocking him to the ground close to the trunk. He reached up to touch the knot on its trunk that would make it safe.

Remus moved past him and opened the tunnel. They entered quickly and made sure the tunnel closed again behind them.

“I’ve always hated that tree,” Sirius muttered under his breath.

“If you wouldn’t constantly antagonize it,” Remus murmured, “it might be more friendly.”

He scoffed. There was no way that tree would be friendly to anyone. Just then, a stray current stirred the air, just enough for a familiar scent to waft through the pervasive smell of musty dirt. The door at the other end of the tunnel must have opened. He met Moony’s eyes. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Sirius and Remus came out of the tunnel and into a Shrieking Shack that had changed dramatically from the last time they’d seen it, a few minutes and a few hours before. It was now brightly lit, with the smell of a delicious stew warming, and happy laughter from a certain baby boy.

And James and Lily were there, ready for anything, with wands aimed at the intruders. 

“It’s just us,” Sirius said with a bright grin.

“It’s about time,” James said while Lily stifled a laugh. They holstered their wands, and then they were in a four-way hug, and Sirius knew everything would be all right.

* * *

Later, after they had eaten their fill of Lily’s excellent stew, they relaxed in the main room of the shack. James sprawled on the couch, Lily nestled comfortably against his side, watching his best friend play with Harry on the floor. Sirius lay there on his back while Harry bashed him with a succession of stuffed toys. 

“So,” Lily said, shifting against him in an apparent bid to get more comfortable — or to tease him, James wasn’t quite sure — “everything that we couldn’t explain earlier really was the two of you?”

Remus, lounging sleepily on a chair with his feet up on an ottoman, turned to look in their direction. “Everything. Including what happened during the attack. You and James dead, Harry miraculously surviving, and Voldemort destroyed.”

James winced in sympathy as a particularly enthusiastic swing of Harry’s connected with Sirius in a place no man needed to have injured. Lily snickered as Sirius yelped and rolled over, trying to shield his crotch from further harm.

“A baby can bring you down, now, Padfoot?” Remus teased.

Sirius grumbled something at Remus that James couldn’t quite make out, and Lily slipped out of his arms and off the couch.

She conjured an ice pack and handed it over to Sirius. Then she bent down in front of Harry. “And you, young man, come to Mummy. No more beating up Uncle Padfoot. That’s my job.” She carried their son back to the couch and sat down next to James, Harry on her lap.

James leaned toward her and whispered, “Your job, huh?”

“Of course. Someone has to keep you men in line,” Lily whispered back with smirk.

“Just remember,” Sirius called, raising his head slightly from the floor, “when you’re contemplating beating me up, Moony and me, we saved you!” 

And that was a sobering thought. “If you hadn’t warned us, we _would_ have been dead,” James said with unaccustomed somberness. “Harry, too, probably.” His eyes fell on the patch of floor in front of the couch. That was the spot where he and Lily had sat to fight Voldemort.

* * *

Hours earlier, in that same room, James and Lily sat on the floor beside a large bowl of water. It had been enchanted to show the image reflected in the new mirror Remus had installed in their cottage back at Godric’s Hollow. 

On the stairs, a doppelgänger of James stood waiting, a twig transfigured into a replica of his wand in the duplicate’s hand. Lily’s doppelgänger was in the nursery, positioned in the doorway. The doppelgänger of Harry stood quietly in the crib, clutching its rails. 

The extra hour of preparation time that Remus had given them when he pushed the limits of the Time-Turner had allowed them to create the three lifelike doppelgängers. They were essentially puppets, controlled by him and Lily. They should be good enough to convince the Death Eaters and Voldemort that they were the real thing. 

The familiar feeling of wards being breached shivered through them. “It’s starting,” James said, leaning forward for a better look at the image. Doppel-James shifted into a defensive position, wand raised and pointed down the stairs as Death Eaters burst through the cottage’s front door. An echo of the doppel’s voice rang through his head. “Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off —”

Light flashed through the bowl as spells hit their targets. One of the Death Eaters went down, and James felt a vicious satisfaction. Distance casting through a doppelgänger wasn’t easy. Doppel-James dodged another spell that hit the wall, leaving behind a scorch mark. He saw a chance to get the traitor, and cast a spell — only to miss when the former Marauder shrank into rat form and scurried away. Voldemort sneered. “So pathetic. You think you can duel?” He waved his wand, sending an ugly green light at the doppelgänger. Doppel-James fell, as though its strings had been cut. Voldemort nonchalantly stepped over the body and went to the nursery. His back blocked part of the image, but that didn’t matter. James focused his attention on Doppel-Harry, and the baby doppelgänger wailed in fright. 

Lily’s doppelgänger backed up as Voldemort advanced, ordering her out of the way. Doppel-Lily refused, falling back to the crib, pleading, “Not Harry, please no don't kill him, take me, kill me instead —” 

Voldemort snarled at her. “This is my last warning —” 

“Not Harry!” Doppel-Lily begged, as the remaining Death Eaters entered the nursery behind their master. “Please ... have mercy ... Not Harry! Please — I'll do anything…” 

“Now, Sirius,” James said under his breath. Lily’s doppelgänger went suddenly still as across from him, Lily concentrated on erecting a shield around the crib. Something exploded through the nursery walls. The water in the bowl rippled and sloshed at the impact, and when the water stilled, the Death Eaters — and Voldemort — were dead. Doppel-Harry was safe, although it had an odd lightning-shaped scar on its forehead. 

James looked around the room through Doppel-Harry’s eyes. Everything looked just the way Sirius had described it. Even the crumpled form of Lily’s doppelgänger was the same. He shuddered. If Lily wasn’t sitting across from him right that instant, he’d believe she was dead himself. 

Then Sirius arrived. James heard him calling out for them through Doppel-Harry’s ears. His gut clenched at the grief-stricken cries when Sirius found Doppel-James’ body. His Padfoot should never sound like that. When Sirius made it into the nursery to pick up Doppel-Harry, James allowed Sirius to soothe its crying. 

“Oh, you idiot,” he muttered to himself as he realized what Sirius was saying. 

“What is it, what’s going on?” Lily demanded. Her role done, she could only see what was happening through the bowl. 

“Sirius really did think it was his fault.” He looked up at her. “We’re going to have to fix that.” 

Her green eyes turned mischievous over a sly smirk that curved her lips. “I can think of quite a few ways.” 

And that was why he loved her. He cast a glance at the real Harry, sleeping soundly in his cot, arms wrapped around his favourite toy — a stuffed black dog. “When Harry’s asleep, of course.” 

“And after Remus has gone home.” 

They shared a conspiratorial grin, and then Lily poked him. “What’s going on now?” 

Oops. He focused back on the bowl. Sirius was talking with Hagrid, handing over Doppel-Harry with an expression of utter loss. “Hagrid’s taking the doppelgänger to Dumbledore, I think.” 

“Let it seem to sleep. That’s the last thing that needed to happen, right?” 

He nodded and let the Doppel-Harry fade from his awareness. “Now we just have to wait for Sirius and Remus to get back.” 

“You cast the spell to hide us from their younger selves. Remus said they never came downstairs while they were here. I’ll get some stew started. They’re going to be hungry later.” She gave him an arch look. “And we’ll need our strength.” 

He took a moment to pull her into his arms for a kiss, smiling when she pulled back and gave him a push to get moving. 

Lily laughed. “Later, remember?” 

“It’s a date!” He knew he had a silly grin on his face as he went to follow her orders. The day had been completely unexpected, but he was sure the night would be full of promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Tumblr - you can find me at leavesdancing.tumblr.com


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